Breast cancer survivor celebrates two birthdays a year
JOBURG – Nersan Govender said that he has dedicated his time to educating communities, societies, and other groups on not only general cancers but male breast cancers as well.
Nersan Govender recalls how his life just changed drastically in just 30 seconds after receiving a phone call that would soon blow everything he knew about life out of the water and alter the course of his life forever.
Govender was studying in Sweden at the time and while he was there, he discovered a pimple on his body and it just wouldn’t go away.
“My assumption was that it was a boil so I treated it with an over-the-counter ointment. It still wouldn’t go away, so upon my return to South Africa, I had it checked out at the Linksfield hospital despite not feeling ill or being in pain. The doctor took one look at it and said this doesn’t look very good,” recounted Govender.
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“And so, we did a biopsy it was at this time, that the doctor asked me if I had my paperwork in order and whether I had a good support system in place. And that’s when I knew something wasn’t right. So at 10am, in a 30-second phone call, the doctor confirmed that it was breast cancer. I was dumbfounded and shocked into silence. Just like that, I began the hardest 10-month journey of my life,” said Govender.
Over the 10 months, Governder had surgery to remove the tumour followed by radiotherapy and then chemotherapy. In a very short space of time, he said he had to sort out his insurance, make sure that he had a file put together with all his financial information.
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“In the beginning, I didn’t want to speak about it openly because of the stigma attached to it. it is deemed to be a ‘woman’s disease’, so you try to pretend that you don’t have it and you operate at an undercover level. You also get challenged by people wondering what is wrong with you, that men ‘don’t have breasts’, but that’s where they’re wrong, everybody has breasts. But in certain communities, it is still a taboo, like it does not exist.
Govender said he has been in remission for 8 years and is grateful for the support he received from his family, colleagues and support group, Wings of Hope Cancer Support.
“As I recovered, I joined them as a volunteer and I now head up the organisation. Since taking over, we’ve opened up a footprint in Cape Town and in Durban, but we support anywhere.”
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Govender added that he has dedicated his time to educating communities, societies, and other groups on not only general cancers but male breast cancers as well.
“I now celebrate two birthdays; my biological birthday in July, and then my second life birthday on 21 June. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance in life and that’s why I tell people, to live their best lives. You cannot give up; you have to have hope…Now that I’ve overcome the treatment, my message to everybody is to always live your best life every day, just live your best life. Don’t put off things because you just never know. Live your best life every day with no regret,” concluded Govender.
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